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Sunday, February 27, 2011

An opportunity has arisen to end jail time for the crime of the simple possession of marijuana in Kentucky. Kentucky House Bill 463 , an overhaul of the state's criminal code, has passed the House and is scheduled for a vote in the Senate as Senate Bill 161. The bill changes the simple possession of marijuana from a class A misdemeanor, one year in jail and a $500 dollar fine, to a class B misdemeanor, 90 days in jail and a $250 dollar fine. Jail time is further reduced by this bill to 45 days. Since the goal is to save money by not incarcerating nonviolent offenders it fails as there is still jail time.If we can convince one Senator to propose an amendment to the bill changing the class B misdemeanor to a simple violation and fine same as a traffic ticket it would end jail time for possession completely.If you live in Kentucky please call Senator Kathy Stein at (502)564-8100 ext 608 and Senator Gerald Neal at (502)564-8100 ext 718 and beg them to propose an amendment to Senate bill 161 treating simple marijuana possession as a violation and fine like a traffic ticket with no jail time. Jailing these offenders wastes tax dollars and serves no useful purpose. Call as soon as you can on Monday, Feb 28 as the bill could be voted on as early as Monday morning! If you don't live in Kentucky, please alert your friends who do.I sent an email yesterday to all Senators listed at this link- http://www.lrc.ky.gov/whoswho/email.htm If you feel up to it after you call you can go there and send what I sent -Sir,Senate Bill 161 reduces penalties for possession of marijuana from a class A misdemeanor to a class B misdemeanor. As the bill was intended to end jail time for non violent crimes, it fails because as a class B misdemeanor one is still subject to jail time, 45 days as opposed to 90 days. Could we at least join the ranks of states like Ohio and Mississippi, (Mississippi for God's sake!) and reduce marijuana possession to a violation, like a traffic ticket and stop putting people in jail for this?Please propose and amendment to SB 161 to end jail time for simple possession of marijuana? If we can't protect our sick and disabled citizens who need medical marijuana with a medical marijuana law, could we at least stop putting them in jail ?Thank you,Readers, whatever you do , please do something, maybe we can end at least a little of the idiocy we call the war on drugs.

It is rare we publish an editorial on a hot topic and receive near universal praise. But that is what happened last week when we came out in support of Washington state legalizing cannabis.

The fact that a lot of people support the drug being legal is not surprising. Most people I know have long supported legalization of marijuana.

Knowing people who support it and public opinion about a newspaper supporting it are different things.

When people take the time to e-mail or call me about an editorial, it is usually because they do not agree with the editorial page. This editorial was different. The compliments rolled in, the discussion in the comments section of the editorial is nearing 600 and is interesting and thoughtful — which is not always the case — and so far the editorial has been recommended by about 3,000 people on Facebook.

Those numbers are nice to see, but only a minor part of the story. What the editorial has shown is that a broad cross-section of Washingtonians supports legalizing cannabis, or at least are ready to discuss the issue seriously.

Legalizing would put Washington out in front. We would be the first state to make the drug legal and regulate it. This would put us at odds with federal law — something we considered. Through our internal discussions this opposition to federal law became a point in favor of endorsing legalization. We believe it is the right thing to do, so why not lead the county?